Mysteries Past
by Curucar
Summary: An elf shows up on the outskirts of Bree, searching for her lost past
1. Beginings

Counciousness came slowly. Hearing cam first- unfamiliar voices murmuring around her. Her head gave a throb and she reached up to grab it, finding bandages wrapped tightly around; the talking ceased as she moved.  
  
"Oh!" exclaimed a woman's misty voice from somewhere behind her. "You've woken. How do you feel?"  
  
"Like shit." She muttered back. Her own voice sounded harsh and unfamiliar.  
  
"Understandable." The woman replied, some of the mistiness leaving her voice, "you were nearly dead when we found you... but the major thing that everybody here has been wondering is: who are you?"  
  
With a shock, she didn't know her own name. She felt tears begin to spring up in her eyes; she brought her hands up to cover her face. But in place of her right hand was a heavily wrapped stump of a wrist. Completely disregarding the many eyes she knew were watching, she broke down and begin to cry, curling up into a stiff ball.  
  
After a few moments of tear-filled eyes, she felt arms wrap around her in a motherly fashion.  
  
"Your sleep was deep and healing" she heard another woman's voice close to her ear. "But we still know nothing about you except that you are truly a tough one. Many Elves are. You wanted to live. Since you cannot remember your name, I think that it would be best if you were known for a while as Kiirara."  
  
"Kiirara" she muttered to herself, quelling her tears. "That will do."  
  
"Now, you must get some more rest, and perhaps tomorrow you may leave your bed. Oh, and you may call me Mara." The woman stated as she signaled for the others to leave the room.  
  
As the room finally emptied, Kiirara straightened back out, laying her head gratefully onto the pillow, not even wanting to know why her head and eye were bandaged. She closed her eyes and fell into a refreshing and voluntary sleep, not to wake for many hours.  
  
When she awoke, the sun was shining merrily though the windows of the room, and Mara was sitting in one of the warming rays of sunshine, apparently watching Kiirara.  
  
"You woke earlier than I expected." She said, getting up and heading towards the bed. "I know what it's like to be bed ridden. Would you like to get up?"  
  
Kiirara nodded, not trusting the sound of her own voice, and stood up, almost falling over again but managing to tightly grip Mara's outstretched arm.  
  
"You lost much blood." Mara told Kiirara with a small sympathetic smile. "Are you sure you want to stay up?"  
  
"I'm quite sure, Kiirara replied. "Can you tell me, "she asked, glancing out the window, "where we are?"  
  
"Of course, m'dear." Mara said. "We are about three leagues outside of the city of Bree. I trust you know where Bree is?" she asked, lending Kiirara into the nearby kitchen.  
  
Kiirara had a dim recollection of the map of Middle-Earth, so she just nodded in response to Mara's question. Mara reached the end of the kitchen and stopped at a mirror.  
  
"We take great pride in this," Mara said, gesturing to the mirror. "They are extremely hard to come by!"  
  
Kiirara silently stared into the mirror, not liking what she saw. Her reflection was staring back at her, leaning heavily on Mara's stout arm, still extremely pale; a brilliant purple eye staring at her, with the other, presumably like it's counterpart, covered in thick bandages, along with the corresponding ear, she noticed. She took a bit of pride in her brown wavy hair that went down to the waist of her simple white nightgown. But she avoided the sight of her stump of a wrist.  
  
"Please, sit down." Mara said, gesturing to a chair by the table. Kiirara sat gratefully, having the time on her feet already exhausting her.  
  
"Harri!" Mara yelled out the open door. Seeing Kiirara's quizzical looks, she added, "Harri is my daughter." After a few seconds waiting, a young girl around the age of 15 wandered into the room.  
  
"Yes, mother?" Harri responded in a misty voice that Kiirara immediately recognized.  
  
"Would you retrieve Kiirara's belongings?" Mara requested.  
  
Without a nod of consent, Harri left the room, her wispy blonde hair whipping around the corner.  
  
"I don't mean to prod, but do you remember how you got into this condition?" Mara asked.  
  
After a few moments of hard thinking, Kiirara bowed her head in defeat.  
  
"I'm sorry, I cannot remember... much of any of my past. I do know where I am from, nor why I am in this region of Middle Earth."  
  
Mara glanced at the door and saw that Harri had returned with an armful of items.  
  
"Then perhaps I could help you with that." She told Kiirara.  
  
Harri stepped forward and gently laid a bow, empty quiver, a pair of knee high boots, leather pants, and a patched linen shirt with many blood stains.  
  
And unexpected sense of déjà vu overwhelmed Kiirara as she saw the items.  
  
"We found these with you when we discovered your body about a league from this house. I was surprised that you were even alive when we found you. Harri here has been training as a Healer for several years now, and she was luckily with me at the time. She's the only reason you made it to the house alive." Mara informed Kiirara.  
  
"And I am forever in each of your debt. I owe you my life." Kiirara replied, bowing her head in respect.  
  
"No deed for any of that, m'dear. It was a mere act of good deeds." Mara said, smiling.  
  
Kiirara didn't respond, but reached out for the bow and picked it up. It was a good hefty weight and soothing under her fingers; it was her bow. She reached up to pluck the string, remembering as her right hand reached the string that she was unable to do so. With a grunt of frustration and anger, she set the bow back on the table.  
  
After a few moments of awkward silence, Kiirara spoke again, her voice filled with unspoken sorrow.  
  
"How many days ago did you find me?" she asked in a half whisper.  
  
"For twelve days you did not stir, not even mutter in your sleep. Today would be the thirteenth day." Mara replied, all too aware of Kiirara's emotions. "Would you like to go back to bed?"  
  
"No..." Kiirara replied, staring out the window. "But you really shouldn't be fussing over me. I think that I would be content just to sit here and watch your family as they regularly are."  
  
"As you wish." Mara replied lightly as she got up and headed outside, signaling for Harri to do the same.  
  
As the day continued on, Kiirara drifted in and out of conciseness, taking small naps in the chair she continued to sit in. She also met the rest of Mara's family. There was Marnee, who was just younger than Harri, and the eldest daughter of the family, Iena, who seemed to be ripening on the vines of a Man's ageline. She also met Mara's two sons, Lle and Beren, who were twins around the age of 25. As the sins set, Oio, Mara's husband, walked though the door and stopped at the sight of Kiirara.  
  
"So... you lived." He stated after a silent moment's inspection. "Mara and Harri did well." With those words, he went off to another part of the house, leaving Kiirara in the dying sunlight. As the sun finally sank below the horizon, Mara came by the kitchen, lighting candles and finally noticed Kiirara.  
  
"It seems that you've met the family today. Would you care to go to bed now?" She asked, holding out her stout arm.  
  
"Lets." Replied Kiirara, hoisting herself up.  
  
"The dressings on your head were just changed before you woke yesterday, so they'll be good for a few days yet." Mara informed her as Kiirara sat down into the bed.  
  
Several days went by and Kiirara observed the comings and goings of the family. Oio would usually have business in Bree, while Lle and Beren would spend the day working in the field with the rest of the family, occasionally taking time to practice their swordsmanship skills against each other. And with every passing day, Kiirara grew stronger, both in body and mind.  
  
Six times the sun rose before Mara finally decided that it was time to change the bandages around Kiirara's head and wrist.  
  
"You got a mighty bump on your head, dear." Mara said casually as she began to unwrap the many layers of bandages around Kiirara's head. I'm surprised that it hasn't gone away yet.  
  
As Mara unwrapped the final layer of the bandage, Kiirara almost passed out in her chair at what she saw in the mirror. Beginning in the middle of her nose as a deep gash that ran across her left eye, coming to a halt just behind what would have been the middle of her ear.  
  
Silent tears began to stream from her right eye, and Mara gently wiped them away with the hem of her sleeve.  
  
"You don't have to cry over it, just remember: life goes on. Now, I need you to try to open up that eye. I don't want the eyelid to meld together with it because I believe that whatever cut you went straight through the eyelid." Mara said, giving Kiirara a tight squeeze on the shoulder.  
  
After much struggling, Kiirara finally managed to force her eye open. Darkness greeted where light should have shown. In the mirror, she saw a healing gash across her eye, and where the other brilliant purple colouring should have been was misted over and shrouded in white. I n her heart, Kiirara knew that it would never see light again. She bowed her head in defeat as Mara wrapped her head again with fresh bandages.  
  
AS Mara finished up with Kiirara's head, she began to unwrap the heavy cloth around Kiirara's stump of a wrist. As she got to the last layer, evident bloodstains appeared, closely followed by a blood-caked wrist.  
  
"That's not too bad, now is it, dear?" Mara asked Kiirara as she sponged some of the excess blood away. "While you were sleeping, it was all that Harri and I could do to stem the flow. You Elves are remarkable healers, you know."  
  
Mara then began to apply clear, golden-tinted syrup to Kiirara's wrist. Kiirara looked at it quizzically, and after a while, Mara noticed the look."  
  
"It's honey, dear." Mara answered Kiirara's unasked question. "Very expensive to obtain, but it will keep infection at bay."  
  
Mara promptly re-wrapped Kiirara's wrist after applying the honey.  
  
"Thank you." Kiirara replied, beyond tears at this point.  
  
Two months went by and Kiirara became part of the family, growing stronger, even beginning some practice with the sword with Lee and Beren. Even if it was in the style that Men practiced, Kiirara did not care for she was learning something that she would not have imagined the few months before. Her bandages came off and she carried her own wounds with no remorse.  
  
One day, she knew what she had to do.  
  
"Mara," she paused while washing the laundry. "I feel that is time for me to leave."  
  
Mara stared at Kiirara wide-eyed for a few seconds before her expression softened.  
  
"I've been expecting this day for a few weeks now." Mara replied, also pausing in her work. "I've seen hidden emotions in your good eye; you wish to know about your past. Correct?"  
  
Kiirara nodded, thinking of how to word what she was going to say next. "And... I've been making plans." Kiirara managed to say.  
  
And awkward silence followed.  
  
"I will leave on the morrow, Kiirara said as the silence stretched on; she continued with the laundry keeping her head down.  
  
Mara just smiled. She knew this day was to come, just not quite so soon. 


	2. Journey

The morning came quicker than Kiirara thought possible. Surly somebody had put her life on fast forward; yet she felt hindered by the use of just one hand.  
  
It was in these 18 hours that she was prone to short outbursts of anger and frustration. So much to do in so little time- she had been such a fool to decide to leave so soon. But something had made her feel uneasy at staying with Mara's family any longer.  
  
While going so fast, time finally seemed to freeze as the cold dawn light reached the house. The entire family had gathered outside of the dwelling, tearfully awaiting her departure. Kiirara just stood there, not knowing quite what to say- all she could do was mournfully stare back, blinking away tears.  
  
Mara broke the long silence by coming forward and hugging Kiirara- this seemed to come from the depths of her should and everything was poured into that single action.  
  
'I thank you for everything' Kiirara said after time had resumed its normal pace. 'I have owed you my life and more; I shall try to come back here... some day...' She broke off as emotions finally overcame her.  
  
Kiirara broke away from Mara's side and smiled at the rest of the family, tears shining down her face in the cold morning light. 'And words cannot express how much you have encouraged and changed my life.' Kiirara then hugged all of them, hoisted on her pack; her face was no longer remorseful and sad, but set with determination.  
  
'And now I must depart; for I have lost the thing that all people value above all. I must go and find my memories.'  
  
With those words, Kiirara turned her back on the family and headed into the unknown, never looking back and not regretting anything she had done while with them.  
  
As the day went on and the sun rose steadily higher, Kiirara had a harsh dose of reality as she learned that she really was on her own- she could do anything she wanted, without needing to ask for permission from Mara. In a way, this freedom and power scared her, yet she realised that this freedom must come with limitations- she had to work from her food and rights.  
  
'But first I much Bree' she began to plan out loud to herself. She travelled on through the day without taking time to eat, running into nothing human in the thin woods. The year seemed to be progressing, so no fire was needed in the night. Something seemed to be stirred in her memories with the sounds of the night and the wind blowing through the trees; this could have also been the sounds she had heard from Mara's house; she did not know.  
  
The second day she travelled, people became more frequent- they passed Kiirara without a word, yet their eyes lingered on her for a bit longer than she was comfortable. With the increase of people, Kiirara deducted, she must be nearing Bree; Mara had said that it was a two to three day journey.  
  
By the end of the second day, she had encountered many people but spoken to none- the stares had suddenly depleted the self-confidence that she once had.  
  
Kiirara started the new day with doubts, trying to rid the ominous clouds of depression from herself, for she knew that she was to reach Bree that day, and not sure of how to act- even what to do there.  
  
She paused and shook her head free of these thoughts. Why was she even contemplating things like this? And why should she even think of what people thought of her? After clearing her head of these dark thoughts, Kiirara continued on, planning what she was to do next.  
  
As the sun arced past noon, Kiirara reached the crest of a hill and gasped. Before her was a city enclosed by a wall- it was indeed Bree. Such a place thriving with so many people was a stark contrast to Mara's mountain home. People rarely came and went at the house, while people freely did their business on both sides of the wall surrounding Bree. As Kiirara stared atop the hill, several people had passed her, almost all could not refrain from staring; she ignored them. She must get used to the stares.  
  
Kiirara shielded her eyes from the sun and headed down the hill, her heavy boots making a satisfactory crunch as they crushed the dry grass.  
  
The wall that once seemed so far a way loomed over Kiirara; most people seemed accustomed to this town and passed through the open gates without looking twice. In the back of her mind, Kiirara felt a twinge of familiarity but wasn't quite sure where to place this feeling.  
  
Shaking it off, she passed through the bustling streets of Bree. The aura of the city seemed to buzz with the business- vendors took up the space that the shops did not. For a moment, Kiirara was lost not only where to go, but in her mind. Surly she must have been here before. 


End file.
